Jamie and Lord Taarken sat in a musty, old room as
their friend strode in to the room with a worried expression on his
face.

“My Dad, Ouuudini should have arrived earlier
today. But he hasn't. I'm going down town to look for him. Houdini
ran off!

Ten minutes later, Houdini ran in to the room and
slumped down on a wooden chair. His face was pale!

“He's caught malaria and is going to die!
Quick, come with me to the hospital!” Houdini ran back out of
the room towards a horse drawn wagon. Taarken looked at Jamie's
chair. But no Jamie was there. Then a voice called to Taarken.

“Come on, we're going to the hospital.”

When in the wagon cart, trundling along, Houdini
explained himself.

“ He was travelling here. But somehow he fell
in a swamp and got bitten by a bloodthirsty mosquito. Suddenly, my
Dad became weak. But a passer-by rescued him, luckily, without being
bitten and took him to the hospital.” The wagon stopped outside
a wooden building and they all got out. Once inside the hospital they
asked the lady at the desk in the entrance hall,

“Can you tell us where Raion Ouuudini is?”

“He is here, but you can't see him, He's
expected to die, VERY, soon!” Houdini stood still for a second
and then thrust his hand into his pocket. Out came a dagger!

“Now,” he said calmly. “Where is
Raion Ouuudini?”

“Through the door on left!”she quavered
pointing. Houdini rushed through the door with Jamie and Taarken
following.

When Ouuudini saw his son, he gasped,

“All is not lost!” Houdini walked to his
father's bed.

Ouuudini reached for his son's hand and stuttered his
last sentence.

“ The diamond,...in Chlowlow,
ol...d-la-deeeeee. As his criminal father passed away, Houdini looked
at Taarken and Jamie.

“Chlowlow, it is!” he whispered.

Over the next few days the three men prepared for an
expedition to Chlowlow.

A month later, they were on the road to Chlowlow. But
there were many problems.

They were running short of food. They had rapidly
spread Ouuudini's last words and had acquired numerous numbers of
eager people on the quest to get the lost diamond. Houdini, Taarken
and Jamie gravely discussed the situation.

“We are in the middle of nowhere, we're running
out of food, and furthermore, we have no idea where the village
Hisini is.” said Taarken. “ So I'm afraid we're lost
FOREVER!”

Chapter 1: An Argument

The carts trundled along the dusty dirt track, which
at some time would lead the weary travellers towards the Red Indian
village, Hisini.

Jamie was immensely worried about the food situation.
It was true what Taarken had said,

“We are in the middle of nowhere, we're running
out of food, and furthermore, we have no idea where the village
Hisini is.”

Suddenly a girl ran up to Lord Taarken and declared
in a high pitched voice,

“We are approaching Hisini!”

As the girl jubilantly spread the good news, the
village loomed up in front of them.

The men were loading their guns, in case of a sudden
hostility from the Indians, which is a common occurrence in the
deepest of the wild west.

The carts stopped out side the heavily fortified
village of Hisini. Hisini had a wooden spiked fence with a
thick forest south-west of it. The Indians lived in dry mud
houses with thatched roofs.

Lord Taarken strode off to get items ready to trade
for food with the Indians.

In Lord Taarken's cart, a violent argument was in
full flare.

“We should avoid this cursed village!”urged
Hutchinson who was a stocky blonde twenty-five year old. “It
will endanger our quest!”

“Going any other way to Chlowlow would endanger
the Quest. There is NO other way to Chlowlow except if you want
to go through Crevice Canyon or Basilisk Swamp!”

Suddenly Lord Taarken entered majestically into the
cart and said,

“The Red Indians have agreed to trade with us
and let us go through the village!” Hutchinson and
Houdini stared daggers at each other and then walked away.

Chapter 2 : The Betrayal

The Sun rose over the village of Hisini and the
Americans readied their trading items, guns, gunpowder, animal furs
and so-on, to trade with the Indians for food.

Lord Taarken blew a horn to tell the Indians they
were ready to trade.

A minute later, Hutchinson cautiously went into the
gateway of Hisini, wondering why the Indians hadn't come out.
Lord Taarken and men behind tables, ready to trade, watched
Hutchinson as he looked into the village.

Suddenly, drums started beating and war cries filled
the air. Hutchinson fell to the ground. Lord Taarken
looked up in surprise, as Hutchinson lay dead on the ground, with an
arrow pieced through his head. Blood oozed out onto the ground,
and Taarken looked on in horror as thousands of Indians swarmed
through the gateway.

As arrows swamped the air, Lord Taarken looked into
the crowd of oncoming Indians. What was the reason for this
sudden hostility? There in the middle of the crowd was Houdini,
covered in war paint, but most definitely Houdini. But he had
no more time to think as a shot rang out and an Indian fell dead to
the ground. Jamie, Lord Taarken's brother, had killed an
Indian.

Taarken whipped out his pistol and followed the
example of his brother. The men at the tables knocked over item
into the path of the Indians! But nothing could stop them now!
A horn blew as a sign to retreat to the woods, but no-one heard above
the bloodthirsty cries of the men! But it did not take a horn
to persuade people to avoid a massacre. Lord Taarken ordered
men to take defensive positions on the edge of the wood, while the
women and children prepared a camp.

The Indians soon retreated back to Hisini at the
sight of their own blood. Houdini was thinking, now I've
ditched those idiots, I can get round to finding where the diamond
is, but I'll just check what Taarken's next move is.

Lord Taarken and Jamie gravely discussed the
situation while armed men watched Hisini.

“Houdini was behind that!” said Lord
Taarken.

“I know! He disappears and the next day
the Indians attack us! And another thing, Houdini is a Red Indian, so
he has a good influence on his fellow race,” replied Jamie.

“Houdini was in the thick of that battle,”
added Taarken, “But I still can't understand why Houdini
betrayed us,”.

“But. . .” started Jamie. But he
was interrupted by a man who was guarding the camp.

“Houdini is spying on us! Shall we shoot
him?”

“No, I will take care of him!” replied
Taarken. He went off to get a gun.

Five minutes later, the eerie silence of the night
was broken by a shot from a rifle and a moan as a man's life ended.

“Houdini had an evil intent!” said Jamie
to Taarken.

“Indeed,” Taarken replied.
Suddenly, a man rushed up to Taarken and cried,

“A lion! Surely it is a lion! It
growls and is heading towards the Indian village.

Chapter 3 : An Urgent Meeting

Jamie sprang up in alarm! But Taarken gestured
Jamie to sit down. He calmly told Jamie to gather the men into
the cart.

Not a long while later, men appropriately dressed for
a cold winter night assembled under a moonlit sky, in a natural
clearing, looking tired and anxious.

Lord Taarken rode up to address the men.

“This meeting must be quick due to current
circumstances,” There was a brief pause and then Taarken
continued. “A lion is apparently heading to Hisini, and
as you know, American lions are dangerous – especially the
black-maned Mamba kind. We know that those Indians won't stand
a second against a fully-grown lion.” Then he concluded,
waiting for the effect to sink in, “Will three men, not
including myself and Jamie, assemble outside the cart with
rifles and knives!” He pointed at three men with good
fighting experience.

Chapter 4 : The Black-Maned Mamba
Lion

Five men stealthily crept into the entrance of
Hisini. A deadly silence pierced the heart of fearless men.

Taarken wondered why there were no Indians milling
around. Then suddenly, Jamie pointed at the wall of one of the
numerous houses in Hisini. A huge shadow of a lion, like a
hovering rain-cloud waiting to burst, prowled menacingly on the
wall. The five men stood motionless in terror, as a huge lion
emerged round the house and stared straight into their eyes.
The lion had blood dripping from its mouth and was snarling, ready to
pounce! Jamie wondered why the lion's mane was so big.
Then part of the supposed mane dropped onto the ground. To his
horror he saw a moonlit piece of flesh on the ground. He looked
up into the lion's face and observed the moonlit mane. Not a
golden mane, but a black mane. Then he realised what he was
observing – it was a black maned Mamba lion!

The lion leapt high into the air and landed on a
helpless man who was now a mere bundle of mangled skin and flesh.
Four men whipped out their cocked pistols and fired deep into the
body of the lion. It flopped down on top of the dead man.
Jamie stepped up to finish the seemingly-helpless lion, when it
swished its last swish and floored Jamie.

Lord Taarken ran over and shot the lion through its
heart. The lion was dead. Jamie had a massive claw mark
in his leg. The two remaining men, aside from Taarken, helping
Jamie up and hobbled him into the camp. Taarken, however,
entered a hut and saw, strewn all over the floor, evidence of a
fight. He had seen enough. The way was clear to Chlowlow.

When Taarken got back to the camp, the majority were
asleep apart from Jamie and the two other men. Jamie's foot was
bandaged and they were eating hot mush. He joined them and they
discussed the current situation.

Chapter 5:The Earthquake

The next morning the camp awoke to a rumbling under
them.

“What's that”? Asked a man who had
stumbled over to Jamie who was feeling a lot better.

“Hmm, I don't know.” he replied. “Why
not ask Taarken,.........” Suddenly the rumbling
increased and the ground began to split. Taarken rushed out of
his wagon,

“Earthquake! Quick get onto the horses
and go, flee, meet back at the camp when the earthquake stops!”

Suddenly, people were rushing around trying to get a
horse to getaway on. By now the earthquake was swallowing up
wagons. People on horses were consumed up by the ground. Lord
Taarken helped Jamie up a tree as all the other people disappeared
below them and their carts were reduced to fragments of broken wood!
Few people escaped! Finally the earthquake stopped and a few
people emerged from safe hiding places. Jamie came down from
the tree with the help of Taarken.

“This is a disaster!” cried the few
people who had survived and not run away. Taarken said,

“Please everyone, help tidy up the the camp and
then we will continue to our goal!” This little speech
seemed to encourage them all as a frantic search for any people who
had survived begun.

Taarken moved away from everyone and looked into the
sky. A vulture soared round in the deep blue expanse looking
for a meal to swoop on. He thought,

"How lucky it is to be able to fly!"

Chapter 6: Arrndard

After a while, the stars began to shine and the
clearing looked more ship shape. Taarken was talking to Jamie who was
now completely better from his ordeal. Taarken said,

“Most of the people have left us and now we
only have three men left!”

“But, at least it will make the journey easier!
But what I don't get is why Houdini deserted us, he was my life long
friend!”Jamie replied.

“Let's face it, he wasn't really our friend if
he tried to kill us! He wanted the diamond for himself!”continued
Taarken. Jamie was walking away felling very sad. Why did Houdini
desert us? He was my 'friend'!

Later that evening five men including Jamie and
Taarken huddle found a cosy fire. They were all that was left of the
'diamond hunters'! One called Robertson looked glum because his wife
had been crushed in the earthquake and Hans was another of Houdini's
'friends'. Last of all there was Daansk Sooksk with a Norwegian back
ground. Taarken broke the silence.

“I think we should turn in for the night, then
carry on next morning!” Without uttering word, the men walked
slowly to their wrecked wagons and then settled down for the night.

Early the next morning, the Sun beat down on two
canvass roofs! Five men gathered all they could from a pile of
rubble. Food, water, all that they could manage. Then they bundled
into two carts drawn by horses!

“Come on. . . come on!” urged Taarken to
his' weary horses. At last the horses pulled the carts out of the
clearing onto a crumbled track. All around them signs of an
earthquake were evident and trees were strewn all over the ground.
Slowly, but steadily, the wagons travelled all day until they saw a
river.

“Ahhhhhhhhh, a river, at last.” sighed
Jamie. Clear water flowed lazily along the river bed and the water
looked fresh. Robertson got out of the cart and made his way to the
river cautiously treading on the ground. He noticed the ground was
flat and smooth, with no clods of earth lying around. He gathered
some water in a pouch and brought it back to the carts. There was an
eerie silence! All the birds seemed to have left after the
earthquake. They had gone far, far away! Inside Jamie and Taarken's
tent the latter was talking loudly.

“Why didn't I think of it before?”

“What?”asked Jamie.

“On the map we had. . . you know. . . the one
which we lost, I seemed to remember there being a river near
Chlowlow!”replied Taarken excitedly.

“Are you sure? If so can you remember where
Chlowlow is?”

“I have quite a vivid memory of it. Chlowlow is
just north of the river. Hmm, I think the river is called Arrndard.”

“Well, what are we waiting for let's go. . . to
the village I mean.”cried Jamie. “Hey, Robertson, Hans,
Daansk come here!” continued Jamie.

There came the sound of footsteps on the ground as
three men came up to the cart!

“What's up?” asked Robertson taking a
swig from the new fresh water.

“Right, listen!”instructed Taarken.”
We've just found where Chlowlow is!”

An hour later, five men approached a spiked fence!
They could hear a lot of noise coming from over the fence! They had
left there carts behind a clump of trees and were now next to the
entrance to what they hoped was Chlowlow! They had their guns with
them slung over their shoulder. They entered the village. “Good!”
thought Taarken.” It appears to be market day. We won't be
noticed!” People bustled busily around browsing stalls. Men
competed for the airwaves, yelling their wares. The company of men
stopped by a house with a thatched roof and wooden supports.

“OK, here's the plan!”addressed Taarken
to the other men. “We need to find an old lady. She's probably
Indian, just mingle with the crowd and find out where she is! The
sooner we fnd the lady, the sooner we get the diamond!”

The men split up into the noisy crowd.

Daansk Sooksk was an unusual man! He smoked and had
never been married. He thought to himself, “Ha ha, those fools
are gone, now I can complete Houdini's wish!” Houdini had said
to Daansk,

“If I die before I get my hands on that diamond
you must kill Taarken and get the diamond, then dispose of the
diamond.” At the time Daansk had found that strange coming from
Houdini but since then he discovered that it's not nice to have
twenty odd people trying to find a diamond that is rightly yours.

He pondered how to kill Taarken. He knew where the
old woman lived. . . or maybe used to live. That was not a problem.
But now Taarken was on his own for a while it should be easier to
kill him! Daansk discreetly followed Taarken onto the crowd. Then he
saw Taarken turn a corner. Hmm, strange! Suddenly Taarken swung round
with his gun in his hand.

“Why are you following me?”raged Taarken.
“Believe it or not I over heard your little chat with Houdini!
I wondered when you would try to fulfil his wish!” Then Daansk
replied,

“How do you think you'd like it if some bugling
idiot like yourself tried to take a fortune that is rightly yours?”
yelled Daansk angrily. Then he took his gun out!

“I'm not sure that what I'm doing is right, but
you are a traitor to me and everyone!” shouted back Taarken.
His finger moved onto the trigger at the same time as Daansk! Bang
bang! Daansk slumped to the ground dead and Taarken screamed in pain!
He looked at his finger and reeled back and fainted. Luckily, no one
had heard the commotion but Hans and Robertson. They rushed round the
corner and gasped in amazement at Taarken and then in horror at
Daansk!

Hans rushed over to Daansk and felt his pulse.
NOTHING! Daansk was dead. Robertson felt Taarken's pulse. Badom badom
badom! He was alive! Robertson quickly bandaged Taarken's bloody
finger in a piece of cloth. Hans went off in search of Jamie. “What
on earth had happened to cause Daansk to die!”he thought as he
ran over cobbled streets to find Jamie. At last, there he was. Jamie
was talking to an old man and he looked surprised to see Robertson!

“Come quickly!” cried Robertson to an
astounded Jamie. “Taarken, injured. . .Daansk . . . dead!”
Then ran back to the spot where Taarken lay. He was now breathing and
talking!

Five minutes later four exhausted men booked a place
in a cheap looking hotel for the night.

The next morning, Hans woke up first wondering where
he was. Ah, yes, in Chlowlow! He roused the others and they dragged
their clothes on slowly. They were tired and were surprised to hear
that Daansk had been found already. People were all talking about the
death and most people seemed to have no clue who had killed Daansk.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you! said Jamie. “I
know where the old lady lives!” The others looked up in
surprise.

“Where? They asked in unison.

“Follow me!”replied Jamie mysteriously.

He led them through narrow streets until he got to a
drab looking house. The windows were boarded and there was a sign
saying in bold letters, 'FOR SALE'!

“Now all we have to do is get in!”muttered
Taarken. He looked cautiously at the boarded windows. Ah. . . easy to
get in! Taarken looked around, no one around! Good! Then he took a
little hatchet out of his pocket.

Jamie muttered,

“They need to get some customs officers!”

Taarken hacked at the window for about a minute. Then
the board gave way!

“Come on guys!” He looked around and then
heaved himself through the window. He was soon followed by the
others. They were in a bare room. There were cobwebs all over the
place and there was a musty smell in the air. There was a rotten door
to their left. They walked through the door way. There were lots of
boxes in this room. Then Taarken said,

“OK then, search the room!” Jamie moved
to the furthest corner of the room and opened a weird looking box! As
the others searched he wondered how much the diamond would sell for!
He looked into the box. Ughhh! It was rotten! He shoved a cloth which
was coated in dust to one side. And there, glinting proudly, was the
diamond!